TW- Slut-shaming
I couldn’t help but notice the ongoing fiasco between Uorfi Javed and Chetan Bhagat. It’s all over the Internet. Chetan, at a literature event, was talking about how the youth of today is constantly distracted and instead of thinking about making their careers, they’re busy scrolling their Instagram accounts.
All of this was okay till he mentioned Uorfi Jawed’s name out of nowhere. While talking to his audience at the event, he said, “Everybody knows who Uorfi Jawed is. Everybody knows this. Why? Is it going to come in your exams who is Uorfi Jawed, or will you be telling your employer in an interview that you know about the outfits of Uorfi Jawed? It’s not the fault of that girl. She is making her career. But, these things are distracting youth,”
Not only this, he further continued saying, “On one side, but there also is the youth who is protecting our nation at Kargil, and on another side, we have another youth who is seeing Uorfi Jawed’s photos in their blankets.”
Uorfi Javed took to her Instagram stories and slammed the writer for his derogatory remarks. Here’s what she posted on her story: “Men like him will always blame the women rather than accept their shortcomings. Stop promoting rape culture, you sickos out there. Blaming women’s clothes for the behaviour of men is so 80s Mr Chetan Bhagat. Who was distracting the youth when you messaged girls half your age?”
She continued on the next story saying, “People like you are misleading the youth, not me. Encouraging men to blame women or their clothing when they are not at fault.”
Uorfi continued posting some screenshots of Chetan Bhagat’s alleged WhatsApp conversations, which came out during the #MeToo movement.
Bhagat took to his Twitter, and he said, “Have never spoken to/chatted with/met/ known someone where it’s being spread that I have done so. It’s fake. A lie. also a Non issue. Haven’t criticised anyone. And I also think there’s nothing wrong in telling people to stop wasting time on Instagram and focus on fitness and career.”
It Is 2022, Are We Still Shaming Women For The Clothes They Wear?
It’s true that I’m not necessarily an Uorfi Javed fan and might not agree with a lot of things that she says and does. However, what Chetan Bhagat did was just so unnecessary. Saying something so derogatory to a woman who had nothing to do with the event he was a part of for the clothes, coming from a prolific Indian author, also at a literature festival. If that isn’t the biggest irony, I don’t know what is.
Also, he says something like why do you know who Urfi is when he knows her and talks about her? It isn’t even about the youth but more about him at this point. Kyunki exam mein to nahi aa raha ye sawal ki Urfi kaun hai. The king of irony.
It is her right to wear what she pleases as an adult, and it’s completely okay not to watch her if you don’t like her ways but saying sh*t like this is upsetting, especially when you have a huge fan base and are in the position of power and influence. This stems from the deep-rooted patriarchy and blatant misogyny where men think that their opinion on women’s clothing or body matters and that clothes are the distraction but not their regressive mindsets.
I can’t believe that we are talking about a woman’s clothes and how it is ‘distracting the youth’ in a literature festival. What a shame!
However this is not the first time a person in power with a platform has moral policed women. There are countless instances, The most recent would be the Karnataka BJP MLA Renukacharya blaming womens clothes for the rise in the cases of sexual assault. He said “A lot of incidents of sexual assault occur due to the clothes that women wear. Men tend to get provoked by the clothes worn by women.”
Or remember the time when Asha Mirje, the Maharashtra state women’s commission member said something so horrific, I still have chills when I think about it. She said “Did Nirbhaya really have to go watch a movie at 11 in the night with her friend? Take the Shakti Mills gang-rape case. Why did the (survivor) go to such an isolated spot at 6 pm? Rapes take place also because of a woman’s clothes, her behaviour and her being at inappropriate places.” After such a gruesome case, as a woman how could she?
There are so more such instances, As a woman it’s not just appalling but downright scary to know that powerful political people with insane influence can’t casually promote rape culture without thinking about the implications it has on the people of the country. Politicians, authors, actors, influencers who have a platform and a voice, have an even greater responsibility to use it wisely and saying such statements have serious repercussions because people actually listen to them. They should refrain from perpetuating such harmful ideas.
Uorfi is constantly shamed for the clothes she wears almost daily and everyone seems to comment about her. However bizarre her sense of style might be to you, that is her freedom of expression. If it bothers you, you can just refrain from watching her content. But tearing her down and being so immoral is not fair. Why the hatred merely for the kind of clothes she wears? Just unacceptable.
We must stop thinking it’s okay to shame a woman and bring her down merely because she wears what she likes and does what she pleases. Moral policing women and saying such things needs to stop and moreover if you end up uttering such sh*t, taking accountability is the least you can do rather than bluntly denying and covering up. It’s just boomer behaviour.
Here’s What The Internet Has To Say About The Controversy And I’m Glad They Stood Up For Uorfi
“Dear Chetan Bhagat,
When one gets invited as a speaker to a literary festival, Uorfi Javed is probably the last name one expects to hear – at least not in the context of literature because, well, Uorfi isn’t an author. We wouldn’t expect your name to be taken at a sports festival, would we?”
Says Deepansh Duggal, an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer at Firstpost
